Experience with House of Brides?

[MsJessica07]

So I've found a dress I really love:

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Dresses/BonnyBridal.jpg

but the store is overpriced for my budget.

I found the dress on House of Brides for exactly what I'd love to pay for my dress, but I'm worried about using them

Who's used them? How was your experience? Would you recommend them?

[Poloke]

www.houseofbrides.com

Has anyone had an experience w/ them? I may order the Bm gowns from there but wanted to hear if anyone has done business w/ them, and if it was good or bad.

[Andrea]

sparky, i actually recently ordered a dress off there. it totally wasn't their fault but the sizing of the dress was really weird ( i ordered a 20, regular 18 in street clothes and it didn't fit) but just make sure you order big enuf. I recommend them to ppl, because they've totally taken care of me. Theres this one gurl who e mails me about once a week, because i complianed about my dress...just checking up to see the status of my dress. When is the wedding? I ordered mine the beginning of May, had to have it rushed because they claimed it wouldn't be here until beginning of sept...wedding the 16th, so i had to put it on rush. had to pay the EXTRA fee for it to get shipped out right away, which i didn't want. they told me august 3rd...well heck, i got to like 2 weeks later (middle of may)

[Andrea]

i would totally go for it, but make sure you measure yourself first...go to a bridal shop to be measured. I used them for a bmaid dress and LOVED them

[MsJessica07]

Thanks :) I'm still trying to convince my mom to go for it, but we're working on it :)

[Poloke]

The wedding isn't until sept 8 of next year. I would order it by this September but don't want to tell them the real date of the wedding so that they get it here way before hand. Yeah I'd order the gown bigger so that it would be taken in...

what gown brand did you buy that ran small? I know they all run differently.

[MsJessica07]

I'm totally in your boat...our wedding isn't until Sept 2, but I want the dress ASAP :)

[Andrea]

i ordered eden bridals (7072) GORGEOUS DRESS

see i only ordered 2 sizes bigger because last summer i was an 18, so i figured 20 would be perfect but i guess you're rite, they all run small...got AA

[Poloke]

why is it that I started this thread and now it shows that someone else did? I dont get that?

[yogi_deuce]

Sparky I am sure that they merged these two threads. Anyway I had a friend use houseofbrides, it took exactly the four months they told her it would. Her dress was fine she paid a extra fee (I think almost a 100.00) for plus size. But her BMs dresses are another story. They ordered different styles and sizes. When they got them they were the wrong size for the style and 2 were wrong color (MOH and I think Jr. BM). They did offer to return the wrong ones and ship out the right ones but it was going to be like 8 weeks or something and by this time her wedding was only like 4 weeks away. She asked for a refund and they told her no. Even though the dresses didn't match the order form.

She had no complainta about her dress. She got it and loved the service and that is why she ordered the BM dresses later. The 2nd order wasn't as smooth and they were unhelpful. She ended up having to buy 6 new dresses and sold the others on Ebay.

[njbride06]

Hi, I ordered my rehearsal dress from House of Brides. It was a Dessy bridesmaid dress. I had tried it on in the store and could figure out what size I needed. Sometimes the charts they give aren't very accurate. I would recommend trying the dress on in a store first, or if anything order it a little bigger b/c it can always be taken in, but letting out can sometimes mess up designs and what not. But it came when they said it would and the dress was perfectly fine, no flaws or anything. It saved me some $ that's for sure.

Also make sure you look into altering costs if you didn't buy a dress thru somewhere. It may end up being better just to go thru the bridal salon. Even though my experience with House of Brides was good, I'm not sure I would do it with a wedding gown. Remember gowns need to be stored carefully and also need to get pressed right before the wedding.

Good luck with your decision!

[Poloke]

I'm glad i asked because this makes me cringe a little. I'd do a complete bridezilla about the gown if they screwed it up and refused to give me my money back or fix the problem. Why couldn't they help that lady ? they messed up the order, not her... so they should be held accountable for the mistake, should have to pay for rush cut or an equivalent in stock gown. I don't like that there is not a corporate line and that you get tossed from one store to the next without hesitation or compassion about the situation. This has made me seriously give thought as to whether its worth buying from them at all. I know there are other distributors out there too. And again, this would be a last resort if I do not find my dress in a shoppe.

[yogi_deuce]

Like I said she got her wedding gown just fine no problems. But just like a bridal salon repeat business with the customer isn't common. It is a wedding after all. Yes they get talked about on message boards but out of all their orders I doubt one disatisfied customer or even a message board will do business much harm.

They said it was a mess up and the dress company was at fault. The dress company can't be held responsible because it is a 3rd party order.
Also there is no incentative for online companies to make you happy or orders right. They have your money. You can't boycott a physical store. So its a win win situation. For every bad experience I am sure 10 others can give you a positive one.